20 million catties is 10,000 tons.

An annual output of 10,000 tons of steel is a drizzle for future generations of steel mills.

But for Da Ming, it is an exaggerated number.

Because this is almost the steel production of the entire Ming Dynasty in a year!

Since Wu Jinxi is a technical official, he also knows something about this.

"Holy Lord, this is absolutely impossible." Wu Jinxi said categorically, "The minister can't do it." ”

"Of course, it's not like asking you for so much steel all at once, there must be a process in between." Chongzhen said, "You don't have to worry about the labor of the factory and the mine, I will give you 100,000 strong men!" ”

"100,000 strong men?" Wu Jinxi reacted when he heard this, "Those chaotic soldiers? ”

This is a bit interesting, with 100,000 strong men, it seems that it is not completely impossible to produce 20 million catties of iron per year.

"Yes, it's the 100,000 rebels." Chongzhen said, "In this life, they will spend their lives in the workshop or the mine, this is also the punishment they deserve, and they should have been beheaded according to the law." ”

Wu Jinxi said: "If this is the case, the minister can give it a try." ”

"It's not a try, it's a must." Chongzhen said solemnly.

"Commandment." Wu Jinxi replied solemnly, "The minister will definitely do this." ”

After saying this, Wu Jinxi continued: "However, the minister still has a question. ”

"Questions?" Chongzhen said softly, "You say, what other questions do you have?" ”

Wu Jinxi said: "Why did the saint choose to set up this iron-smelting workshop in Xiangtan? Isn't Wuchang good? ”

"Wuchang?" Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this, this is the mindset, he only remembered that there was a steel factory in Xiangtan, so he subconsciously chose the iron-smelting workshop in Xiangtan, but in fact, Wuhan seems to have a steel plant, and the scale is larger, Wuhan even once founded a famous arsenal, Hanyang Arsenal!

Hanyang-made rifle, which is the most famous rifle in modern China, is not one of them.

"Wuchang is okay too." After Chongzhen reacted, he immediately nodded and said, "This iron-smelting workshop is specifically run in Wuchang Mansion, Hanyang Mansion or Huangzhou Mansion, you can do it yourself." ”

"Anyway, the 100,000 rebels were handed over to you."

"And the silver, all you need is a letter, and the Internal Affairs Office will send someone to transfer it to you."

"Oh, by the way, there's no need to tune, the royal silver horn has a branch in Wuchang, which can be withdrawn directly from the semicolon."

After speaking, Chongzhen instructed Gu Yinxi again: "Du Qing, in order to prevent the chaos of the soldiers, I may have to trouble you to lead 10,000 town soldiers to stay to assist temporarily, and when the new army arrives, I will send the new army to replace you, and then you can return to Xuzhou with these 10,000 town soldiers, as for the other town soldiers, you can go back tomorrow after receiving the reward." ”

"Commandment." Du Yinxi bowed down, and then turned around and left with Wu Jinxi.

Wu Jinxi said to Du Yinxi as he walked, I plan to open an iron-smelting factory at the northern foot of Guishan.

Du Yinxi responded that the northern foot of Guishan is good, close to the Han River, whether it is minerals, charcoal or iron after smelting, it can be transported by water, which is really convenient, and you can also take wood and charcoal directly from Guishan to make iron.

Wu Jinxi laughed and said, if it is a workshop with an annual iron output of one million catties, it is true that it can directly take wood from Guishan to burn charcoal, but now the saint wants a large workshop with an annual iron output of 20 million catties, and the firewood on Guishan is not enough at all, so it is necessary to mine coal, smelt it into coke and then smelt iron.

The two walked out of the line as they spoke.

Seeing that the two of them left, Chongzhen asked Gao Qiqian to call Wang Fuzhi, Guan Heiqiu and Xia Rubi to his line.

The land issue has always been a fundamental issue.

Even if there is a force to determine, the gentry of Huguang will not be willing to spit out the fat meat in their mouths.

If it's just the gentry of Huguang itself, there's nothing to worry about.

But if these gentlemen are allowed to use the ties of the clan to fan the entire clan, there will be a big problem.

Therefore, in addition to deterrence by force, propaganda must also keep up, which requires Wang Fuzhi and other Qinwang scholars from Huguang.

"Wang Fuzhi, I remember that you have a kind of flower drum opera in Hunan." Chongzhen asked, "Singing and dancing, as well as instrumental accompaniment, it's not much the same as Ruan Dacheng's troupe, right?" ”

Wang Fuzhi said: "What the saint said is the Changsha Flower Drum Opera, right?" ”

"It's good to have." Chongzhen nodded, "I'll give you an errand now. ”

"You will take your respective presidents to Changsha Mansion to find these tricks who can sing flower drum operas, and then arrange a new flower drum opera for them, the content of which is probably that the patriarch of a big clan in a certain place oppressed the same clan in the clan, and eventually led to the destruction of many families in the clan, and finally this evil patriarch was suppressed by the imperial court."

After saying this, Chongzhen continued: "After suppressing the patriarch, the imperial court distributed the official land stolen by the patriarch to the clansmen, and then the whole clan and the same clan lived a good life. ”

As soon as they heard this, Wang Fuzhi, Guan Heiqiu, and Xia Rubi knew that Chongzhen was going to be ruthless to the gentry in Huguang.

Although Wang Fuzhi's family of the three of them is also a gentleman of Huguang, the three of them raised their hands in favor of Chongzhen's will, because they supported Quanquan Juntian in their hearts.

When Yinxi was in Juntian, they wanted to go back to Hunan to implement Juntian.

Chongzhen said: "This is not Juntian, but only to recover the Zhuangtian that has been invaded under the names of each domain. ”

"Holy Lord, why don't you just Juntian?" Wang Fuzhi was puzzled, "Wouldn't it be nice to take advantage of this opportunity to solve the land annexation problem of Huguang once and for all, and truly realize that the cultivator has his own land?" ”

"yes, why not Junda?" Guan Heiqiu and Xia Rubi were also puzzled.

Chongzhen smiled and said: "I remember that the three of you also have a lot of land in your family, if you are in Huguang Quanquan, your family is probably unavoidable, how will you go home to see your parents in the future?" ”

"This is selfishness." Wang Fuzhi muttered, "Juntian is the righteousness of the country. ”

Guan Heiqiu and Xia Rubi also said: "How can personal self-interest be compared with the general righteousness of the country? ”

"I know the ambition of Qing and the others." Chongzhen said, "It's just that the rice must be eaten one bite at a time, and things must be done one by one, and the affairs of Juntian cannot be rushed, and the top priority is to first recover the encroached Zhuangtian under the names of each domain." ”

"Wait for me." Wang Fuzhi said, "The ministers will lead the troops to Changsha." ”

The three of Wang Fuzhi had just left, but there was a sudden sound of cheers like a tsunami outside the line.

Chongzhen immediately rushed out of the door and shouted, "Wang Daban, what's going on outside?" Who is shouting hooray? ”

Wang Chengen immediately walked away and said respectfully: "Long live the lord, it is those rebels who thank you for not killing you, and are shouting long live three times, and thank you, long live the lord." ”

"That's what happened." Chongzhen nodded and said, "Oh yes, have you counted all the gold and silver jewelry, livestock, and women seized from the rebels?" ”

Zuo Liangyu has guarded Wuchang for many years and has accumulated a lot of goods.

After Zuo Liangyu died of illness, Zuo Mengeng did not return for a long time, and these goods were divided between Ma Jinzhong and the four of them.

After Ma Jinzhong and the other four were killed by He Tengjiao, these goods were divided among more than a dozen people including Lu Guangzu.

And now, all these goods belong to Chongzhen, along with the cattle, sheep and horses that were previously detained, as well as the property looted within a month after the rebellion.

Chongzhen estimates that the amount of this wealth will not be small.

As he was talking, Gao Qiqian walked in happily.

"High companionship." Chongzhen asked, "Have all the goods been counted?" ”

"Hooray, the exact number is still being verified." Gao Qiqian said with a flattering face.

"But the approximate figure has come out, there are about two million silver, in addition to more than one million jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings."

Chongzhen's face immediately fell.

More than two million dollars in silver plus more than one million dollars worth of jewelry is more than three million.

After Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's many lootings, Huguang itself was already dilapidated, but he didn't expect Zuo Liangyu to loot so much in Wuchang in the past few years.

I'll keep this account in mind.

When the time is ripe in the future, I will make a fuss about this, move Zuo Liangyu's tablet from Taimiao, and let such a rebel stay in Taimiao, which is simply a humiliation to the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty.

Zuo Mengeng's Duke of Chu will also be taken sooner or later.

"Where's the warhorse?" Chongzhen asked again, "How many horses have you collected in total?" ”

Gao Qi said: "More than 7,500 war horses, more than 15,000 cattle, and more than 120,000 sheep, in addition to more than 20,000 pairs of armor, more than 160,000 waist knives or spears, about 10,000 birds, about 9,000 side cars, and more than 100,000 stones of grain, silk, cotton cloth, etc. are still being counted." ”

Chongzhen's face suddenly fell: "Gao Companion, you didn't stretch out your hand, did you?" ”

"Hooray!" Gao Qiqian immediately knelt down with a puff, and said in a panic, "How dare the old slave stretch out his hand, besides, there are so many Qinwang scholars staring, and the old slave has no chance to reach out even if he wants to." ”

"Get up, it's good if you don't stretch out your hand." Chongzhen snorted lightly and said, "In addition, you listen well, gold and silver treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, or mansion granges, you can only take what I reward you, no matter who gives it to you, you are not allowed to take it, let alone stretch out your hand indiscriminately, otherwise let me know, you should know the consequences." ”

"Yes, the old slave knows." Gao Qiqian nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

In his heart, he lamented, with a long live master like you, who dares to stretch out his hand?

"But I won't treat you badly." Chongzhen smiled and said, "This time you have also worked hard, after returning to Beijing, go to Ma Mingluo to receive the reward." ”

"The old slave thanked Long Live Lord." Gao Qi's subtext is overjoyed.

Wang Chengen also came down to thank him: "Long live the reward." ”

Chongzhen smiled, and continued: "Ten taels per person!" ”

The smile on Gao Qiqian's face froze, it turned out that it was only ten taels?

Chongzhen then added: "High companions, don't be too little." ”